District staff presents survey and pilot data on school cell‑phone policy; draft due Jan. 2025

District staff presented a comprehensive update on a proposed district cell‑phone policy on Oct. 1, saying large stakeholder surveys and pilot programs are informing a draft policy the board asked to have in place by January 2025.

“We had 9,723 responses,” the district presenter said, summarizing the surveys sent to parents (English, Spanish and Mandarin), staff and students and the themes that emerged from each group. The presenter cited parent priorities — 40% said a policy was “very important” — and said the principal parental concern was emergency communication (54% named it as a worry). The presenter added that parents also nominated classroom distraction, cyberbullying and consistent enforcement as major themes.

Staff described educator feedback that supported a differentiated policy by grade level and said 49% of educators preferred a level‑2 approach (phones kept out of sight in backpacks or pockets), while 37% preferred classroom caddies and 12% supported phones being available for instructional use. “Teachers wanted discretion,” the presenter said, noting educators favored options that varied for elementary, intermediate and high school settings.

Student responses were more mixed: staff reported students most frequently cited concerns about emergency contact, privacy and personal ownership of devices. The presenter said 31% of student respondents “strongly opposed” a phone policy, 17% opposed it and about 21% supported it; still, 57% of students saw fewer distractions as a potential benefit.

Pilot school data were discussed as concrete evidence from implementation. Staff said pilot sites logged about 171 recorded cell‑phone violations, with 22 students having more than one violation (the most for an individual was four). At Corona High, preliminary six‑week checks showed the share of students with C’s or better rising from about 68% last year to 74% so far this year; one presenter described a drop in the D/F/No‑Pass rate from 32% to 26% in the same cohort. Orange Grove reported staff surveys showing 100% of responding staff said students were more engaged, and a six‑week GPA snapshot rose from 2.2 to 3.3 in preliminary data.

Board members praised the level of engagement and asked for continued student participation on the committee. “I’m just thrilled … the data is amazing,” Board Member Nicola said, commending staff for collecting qualitative and quantitative evidence. Board Member Pollock urged adding more students to the committee: “I would have liked to see maybe a couple more students on that committee,” he said, asking that the district expand opportunities for student voices via Zoom or student forums.

Staff framed next steps as internal policy development: the cell‑phone committee will reconvene (next meeting scheduled Oct. 7) to draft board policy language and administrative regulations; staff said they will align the policy with California legislation (Assembly Bill 3216 was cited) and return a draft for board review with the target of implementation by January 2025. The presenter emphasized that the district intends the policy to limit distractions while preserving access for emergencies, teacher discretion for instructional use, and equitable enforcement across schools.

The board did not take formal action on the policy at the meeting; staff will continue committee work and bring a draft policy forward for review.